History of Dobong-gu

Prehistoric Age & Ancient Nations Times

It is assumed that humans have lived in the Dobong areas since the prehistoric age, but the assets or traces from that age have not yet been discovered. Considering this area is part of the Hangang valley of Seoul, this area may be included to the Hangang valley prehistoric cultural area.
Seoul, which is located in the lower stream of Hangang has been the arena of competition among forces of three nations in the period of the Three States, and it was first recorded in the history in the reign of King Goi (ͯ????, from ? to 286), the 8th king of Baekje, when Baekje was expanding its territory from Hangang to the south and the north, after completing its national structure as an ancient nation.
As Dobong-gu has been a strategically important spot in terms of national defense since the ancient times, and it has an ideal condition for agricultural activities where water flows in front of the town backed by mountains, various nations have fiercely competed to preoccupy this area.
After Baekje ruled this area under the name of Hanseong, the area became the territory of Goguryeo under the policy of southward movement of King Jangsu.
In accordance with Gunhyeonje, the administrative system of Goguryeo, Maesung-gun (Changhwa) was established in the present Dobong-gu and Yangju-gun sites. After ruled by Baekje again, the area became the territory of Silla. Yangju-gun including the present Dobong-gu

Goryeo and Joseon Periods

King Taejo of Goryeo renamed Naeso-gun as Gyeonju, and also renamed Hanyang-gun of the Silla Dynasty as Yangju.
The governor of Yangju had jurisdiction over Gyeonju. In 1081 (King Hyeonjong Year 9), Gyeonju was incorporated into Yangju. In 1394 (King Taejo Year 3, Joseon), the capital (Hanseongbu) was set up in Yangju, and the rest of Yangju area including the present Dobong-gu remained as Yangju.
In 1396 when two years had passed, names of five districts of Hanseong-bu were designated and boundary stones were established. Some parts of Dobong-gu were incorporated to Sungshinbang of Dongbu.
It means that Dobong-gu was partially included to the outer district of Hanseongbu in the Joseon period. On Yeojidoseo, a compilation of the maps of the overall capital area published in times of King Yeongjo, there were Nowon-myeon and Haedeungchon-myeon, which belonged to Dobong-gu.

Modern & Contemporary Times

In 1895 (King Gojong Year 32), Yangju-gun under jurisdiction of Hanseong-bu became the 3rd gun of Gyeonggi-do under the royal order on the 13-do system. In 1912, when Korea was colonized by Japanese, Nowon-myeon and Haedeungchon-myeon still belonged to Yangju-gun.
Two years later, Nowon-myeon and Haedeungchon-myeon were incorporated into Nowon-myeon, and then the current geographical names such as Chang-dong, Dobong-dong, Banghak-dong, and Ssangmun-dong were designated.
On August 13, 1949, when four years had passed since the liberation, the districts of Seoul were expanded. The areas newly incorporated from Sungin-myeong, Goyang-gun to Seoul, and some parts of Dongdaemun-gu were all incorporated into Seongbuk-gu, and Sungin District Office had jurisdiction over Dobong-gu.
On January 1, 1963, some area of Nohae-myeon, Yangju-gun was incorporated into Seongbuk-gu, and newly built Nohae District Office of Seongbuk-gu had jurisdiction over Dobong-dong, Banghak-dond, Ssangmun-dong, and Chang-dong.
On July 1, 1973, Dobong-gu was newly designated with jurisdiction over 22 administrative dongs by incorporating areas managed by Sungin District Office and Nohae District Office.
The number of dongs in Dobong-gu increased to 35 in 1979, and Nowon-gu was separated from Dobong-gu on January 1, 1988. On March 1, 1995, 18 dongs including Mia-dong, Suyu-dong, and Beon-dong were separated from Dobong-gu to be designated as Gangbuk-gu, and 15 dongs including Ssangmun-dong, Banghak-dong, Chang-dong, and Dobong-dong formed the present